


dressed up in a summer song

by earlymorningechoes



Series: nainsí tabris: all i've got is two hands [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Broken Bones, Dare, Denerim, Elven Alienages, Family, Friendship, Gen, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 07:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13565517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlymorningechoes/pseuds/earlymorningechoes
Summary: A boring summer day gets much more interesting when Soris dares Nainsí to do something stupid.





	dressed up in a summer song

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, Solace is the Thedosian equivalent of July, and Nainsí and Shianni are thirteen and Soris is twelve.

The day is bright and clear but excessively muggy, business as usual for the middle of Solace, and Nainsí flops down in the grass under the vhenadahl after lunch. She watches the sunlight stream through the leaves, lazy, and barely acknowledges when Shianni and Soris flop down with her. 

“It's too hot,” Soris complains, swiping at the sweat on his brow, and Nainsí and Shianni both murmur in agreement. They lie in silence after that, trying not to waste energy on talking, until there's a sudden commotion from the direction of the gate - Varlen, arguing with the human guard on the other side. Shianni sits up immediately, radiating anger, and Nainsí nudges her knee with an elbow. 

“Calm down. He’ll stop before it gets serious, he always does.” Just as she finishes the words, Varlen waves his hands dismissively at the guard and stalks away, face cloudy. “See? He's leaving already.”

Sighing, Shianni scoots back until she's leaning on the tree and draws her knees to her chest. “It's been closed all week! What do they expect us to do? Even Uncle and Valendrian can't get them to do anything!” She crosses her arms, frustrated, and Nainsí lets her eyes drift closed again, knowing she won't get anywhere with that. 

“You need a distraction, Shianni,” Soris interjects, and bumps his foot against Nainsí's. “Could you walk across the top of the gate?”

Shianni gasps in disbelief, and Nainsí bursts into laughter. “Too hot for that. Next idea?” she asks, shifting to get more comfortable on the grass. 

There's a few too many beats of silence, and she opens her eyes to find out why, startling slightly when she realizes Soris is sitting up and leaning over her, a bit too close for comfort. “I dare you!” he says gleefully.

She sits up so quickly she nearly cracks their heads together, and he scrambles backwards out of her way. “Well, that's another story,” she says with a grin, brushing off her skirt as she stands up and strides towards the rickety platform built into the fence next to the gate. Standing with her hands on her hips, she surveys the fence and the gate, trying to plan out the best route up that she won't immediately fall off. 

Just as she steps forward, ready to climb onto the platform and then to the fence, Shianni reaches out as if to touch her forearm, but stops just short. “Don't be stupid, Cousin. What if you fall?”

Nainsí laughs. “I'll be fine. I've done stupider things.” She smiles cheekily at both her cousins before turning back to the fence, scurrying up and balancing on top with an almost catlike grace. “Here goes nothing!”

As she starts to make her way across the gate, arms outstretched, shouting erupts on both sides of the fence. The human guard on the market side is loudest at first, yelling at her to get down and saying he won't be responsible for an elf if she falls, but he's soon drowned out by a crowd of humans on one side and elves on the other, each individual voice lost in a mishmash of cheering and booing. 

Adrenaline surges through Nainsí as she walks, and she thinks a quick  _ praise Andraste _ that there isn't any wind to whip her skirt around her legs. She tunes out the screaming, trying to focus on how best to get herself across the uneven gate and almost glad for the worn-out soles of her boots that give her a better feel for the wood. The warm, sticky air does her no help as sweat drips down her back, but she keeps going. 

Once she's halfway across, she starts to relax, and a hush falls over the crowd. Three-quarters of the way there, she turns to give a cheeky wave to Shianni and Soris, but the twist of her foot is enough to knock her off-balance. She flails for a long moment, the crowd holding its breath, before tumbling down back onto the alienage side. There's a thud and a crack when she falls, and she rolls to the side when sharp pain shoots through her left forearm. She sees Shianni pushing through the crowd towards her, and then everything goes dark. 

\----------

When she wakes up, the first thing Nainsí realizes is that she's lying in bed instead of on the ground, and the second is that her left arm is tied against her chest. Opening her eyes, the third thing she notices is Shianni sitting at the end of the bed, who nearly bounces with excitement when she realizes Nainsí is awake. 

“They opened the gate!” she says delightedly, standing up to pace away her excess energy. “Valendrian told them the next incident wouldn't be just a bored teenager, and they still weren't keen on opening it but some human butted in to say he'd rather have elves in his shop than distracting all his workers, and the guard was so fed up he gave in!” She plops back down onto the bed, and Nainsí winces as pain blooms in her arm. 

“Oh, and you broke your arm, and fainted,” Shianni adds, pointing to the bandages wrapped around her arm and torso. “Nessa’s mother knew what to do; she says you'll be fine as long as you let it heal and don't go climbing on any more fences!” She wags a finger in a perfect imitation of Nessa’s mother, trying not to laugh at herself. 

At that, Soris appears around the corner, grinning widely. “You walked on the gate!” he says, and Nainsí grins as well, poking Shianni’s hip with her foot. 

“Told you there were stupider things than walking across the gate.” Shianni’s eyes narrow in confusion, and Nainsí starts to giggle, trying not to jostle her arm. “Turning around while walking on the gate!” she cries, clearly pleased with the joke. 

Shianni blinks in disbelief, then resignation, as Soris roars with laughter. Nainsí pushes herself into a sitting position with her right arm, trying to get into a position that doesn't hurt the collection of scrapes and bruises she’s got to go with the broken arm. Once she’s vaguely comfortable, she pokes at Shianni again. “And when did you become the responsible one?”

The disgusted face Shianni makes in reply sets them all off laughing again, and she slides off the bed to help Nainsí to her feet.


End file.
